Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $932,000 in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,992 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $932,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $266,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 143.3% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 135,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 79,941 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 37,150 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 8,871 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $113.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown Castle news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.47. 1,285,909 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,926,348. The firm has a market cap of $45.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.70, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.55. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service - bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.